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I will be living with an older friend as a Caregiver soon. We haven't discussed pay yet. What is a live-in Caregiver paid? I will be moving to another city, drive her to Dr. appointments, to the Seniors Center, go to the grocery store. I will do most all of the driving. She is 86 years young, we have a lot in common.

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Where should I check to find out if I can get paid for the care of my parent
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Helper, i would be interested in the answer to that question as well. I quit my job to be home full time to take care of my mother. We BOTH now live on her SS and retirement which is not much. She gives me money each month but is out the money that I was helping her with when I was working. So, basically the household income has gone down 800 a month. Just curious if there is goverment/other assistance availible.
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Check with Medicaid for plans in your state.
Good luck!
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Check with social services, Dept of Aging in your area. Ask for an assessment of your loved ones needs. If the financial issues are just or wrong(depending on what you are looking at) the loved can be entitled to outside help from social services. if this is the case, ask for an application for YOU to be the caregiver/companion. my mom is eligible for 12 hours of companionship/caregiving free of charge to her a week. i decided to look for something else to make money as my mom enjoys seeing another face other than me sometimes(dont we all?). there are also family caregiver grants available in some states/cities. im in virginia and its only $500 a year and it was not given out last year do to lack of city funds. it wasnt alot of help, but maybe it can give a good start to some..good luck to all.
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I am taking care of a terminally ill friend. Since he moved in with me, I have been buying all his food and toiletries. Just last week, he clogged up my septic system with paper towels costing me $800. I cannot afford to support him and he has no where else to go. His SS is his only income and he feels he should pay off his credit cards instead of helping me out with his costs. I drive him to his Dr.'s appointments which is 70 miles away once a week. He finally agreed hopsice could come in once a week, but if I am not there he will not answer the door. I am a full time RN and need my job plus more to take care of him. Who do I contact for this information. I need help now.
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I have been caring for my mother for 4 years and am sacrificing my own social security and doing this caregiving with virtually no compensation for providing for her ADL's,transportation,meals,and have no insurance at this time for myself. There are no days off and my younger brother has power of attorney. My mother's layer is becoming concerned about my damaging my own "golden years."
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Hi gelininthesun

I would start by contacting your local Office of Aging, Social Services or Medicaid, and also Medicare. It's different per state, but this will be a start.
Good Luck, Diane
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Morning gelinthesun
I read your post and draw one conclusion from it as stated.

You are being abused by your guest. Honorable guest/patients will offer to pay some cost, especially if they damage something or create a problem for their host? Not answering the door? This is childish and weird?

Start calling the county senor service groups and get pointed towards a case manager that can help you get through this? Abuse/free rides/food is not acceptable any longer ! Help out some or leave? Simple as that. Life will go on for all.

Defend yourself now or it will grow worse.
Linda
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My brother had to quit his job to care for my parents. Is there any way he can get paid for caring for them since is a full time job. My dad is on a heart transplant list plus he's debetic and just 6 months ago the doctor told us he is show classic signs of alzimers. My mom just had both her knee done. She only has a 5th grade capibilie. She is not good with money matters. I do what I can to help out when I can. The biggest problem is my brother has is that fact he don't have the money now to pay for his own monthly bills.
Can anyone help me out ?
Area they Live Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
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A tad Late,
but,
In Arizona basic live in services for a certified caregiver is at 120 a day, paid as an employee.
Private caregivers can charge 100 to 200 per day, of 10-20 per hour for the first twelve.
These are just averages in my experience. You need to base your pay on the level of care that one requires.
I recommend you have a written agreement prior to beginning any position.
If you are driving your personal vehicle for errands and as transport, factor in upping your auto insurance for your protection, saying 'they wouldn't do that to me" is nieve because some where, someone else said that and I am sure they regret it. don't forget mileage reimbursment!
Factor in medical insurance; if they offer it, you are lucky, if they do not; be over cautious in your body mechanics it only take one wrong move to injure your back and then what? Factor in that this is elderly care and eventually everyone will pass, always consider the possible length of a job, I am sure it sounds cold but I have worked in senior care for 10 years and privately for the last 3 years, there is nothing worse then finding yourself jobless and homeless after a week, granted no one knows how long any position will last, but at least think about it.
I am iffy on offering room and board as part of one's compensation. If you are required to be there 24/7, your time should be paid other wise you would go home at night.
Food is always included as a live in.
Most importantly you must have time off! any one who works 7 days straight is setting them selves up for danger. Even if it is one day a month each person needs a little r&r...
I hope this helps.
The Private Caregiver
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my boyfriend of 4yrs. has stage 4 cancer since we live together i take care of him in stead of having in home care can i get paid for this?
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what are the wages for a live in caregiver 24 /7
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From what I understand, Medicare (federal) does not cover caregivers so it is up to each state to decide.
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From what I understand, Medicare (federal) does not cover caregivers so it is up to each state to decide.
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I have been thinking about hiring an Au Pair since I found out they are not just for childcare, but also care for seniors or disabled persons. They pay, generally, $5 an hour plus room and board. I thought at 40 or less hours a week they could provide respire care.
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My horrid experience now is; mom lives at home the LTC will pay $260.00 for 24hrs. this is 24/7 care at home. the total cost for the HIREing agency for caregivers is $20.00 an hour. O-wow. moms trustee (who we asked to be stupid us) is doing this and lied to us to sign a paper so she could approve investments that she has . this is before we knew it was only $260 a day covered ,she said IT was covered. anyway her savings acct of $40 thousand dollars is gone after a month. and we keep asking how much this is costing ,she will not respond. we estimated $172 thousand $800 dollars. needless to say the family trust will be spent out cashed in in 4 years.
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The estimate is $172,800 a year.
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Should a live-in care giver be paid in addition to room and board? If so, how do you determine the amount or wage?
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Helper - if your parent is a veteran or the spouse of a veteran, the VA has a benefit for Home Aid and Assistance. Contact your local VA office and they'll send you the forms you need to fill out. Good luck. HopingforSleep
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Moorhead - room and board implies that this is a hotel type situation for the roomer. It's not. They are doing all the work in the "board" for not only their own food, but that of the person they are caring for, who most likely has much different dietary needs than the caretaker. Add to that the fact that the caretaker will be on call 24/7, and yes, you will need to pay a wage. This is not a job I would ever sign up for, especially on a live in basis. You can't go home to get off duty, because your home is your workplace. You can't go anywhere to de-stress. It's a tough job. Pay well.
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The cost depends upon the area of the country that you live in because living expenses influence this figure, and also the services you expect from the caregiver. Must they have a car to pick up medication and shop for food, cook, housekeep? Do they have sufficient language skills to communicate with the patient and employer? Will they be taking the patient to their doctor and dental visits? Also, the difficulties in caring for a patient can be a factor. The more capable, and the more requirements, the higher the scale. While interviewing for a live in careperson for my Mother in NJ in 2008. I saw people who had little language and no car who asked for $850 per week, but who withdrew from consideration because my Mother was too heavy for them to manage unless she was bedridden. The scale went up to $1050 per week with the higher skill and service level that I mentioned above. In fact, it was my only choice since everybody else withdrew on the basis of my Mother's weight. This covered 24 hours/day with one 24-hour day off every two weeks. Holidays were also to be taken off or the charge was double. Gas money was also paid to the caregiver, since the car was used for some of the services. Eventually I was asked to provide two weeks paid vacation. As I was working long hours at my job, covering for the time off became impossible, and I had to leave work to care for my mother myself.
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Given the costs that I described in my previous post, and the burdons on myself for managing finances and house maintenance, large medical issues, and covering the care gaps, assisted living++++ would have been the ideal solution, however, Mom was never the independent social person her sister was, and was ill-equipped to fare well in that environment until three years later when she went from hospital to rehab, to assisted living++++. In the meantime, the costs of assisted living came down to a more affordable level and different all-inclusive services package deals became available in our area. Assisted Living++++ costs ranged up to $84,000 per year in 2006, and NH prices ranged up to $120,000 in 2010 in our area. Mom is well-taken care of for $5500 per month now. This makes sense if you can reduce the cost of the patient's maintenance by eliminating the costs of housing, utilities, house maintenance contracts, security monitoring, dish TV, lawn service, snow removal, and food which would liberate at least $14000 per year from the budget toward the cost of Assisted Living++++. The AL facility has excellent gerontologists visit weekly, as well as a hairdresser. Easypeasy.
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Per hour, I'd charge between $15-$25; per day, between $150-$200. Then again, I'm a mercenary. Ask your old friend how much s/he is willing to pay and take it from there.
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If she is providing you with a rent free place to live, then don't forget to calculate that into the "rate" you are charging her. As for how much per hour, it really depends on where you are and what you will be doing beyond running errands & driving her to her appointments. Are you expected to prepare all meals? Bathe her? Do all of the housekeeping? etc. Good luck!
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OMG! Im a live-in caregiver taking care of an elderly husband and wife which included there 480 pound son that lived there aswell. First the husband died, that left me as caregiver to his wife who has Alzheimer's and is wheelchair bound. Second, the 480 pound son died just one (1) day ago of a heart attack which I had to give life support until he was picked up by ambulance. Now this is where everything gets screwed up. The son had POA and now some cousins and such took the wife, who is now the only one still alive, whom I am still her live-in caregiver out of her own home to an assisted living facility without a word to anyone, including me, just 8 hours after her son died. All this happened Friday night 4/5/13. I can't get a hold of the Attorney that has the son's will and directives until monday and now told me to leave the home today. Can somebody PLEASE HELP ME ON WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO SAY, HOW TO GET MY PATIENT BACK TO HER HOME, ETC.... Can I get a restraining order against those people or what? I'm frantic and worried for both my employer (wife of dead husband and son) who is also my patient.
PLEASE HELP ME TODAY..... PLEASE... Thank You, Linda
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Linda, did you leave the house? I hope not. You have a verbal/consentual contract with the lady, which includes you living in the house. You are fulfilling your side of the contract by being there.
Do you know if these cousins have POA?
Can you talk to your patient at the AL place? How is she responding?
Talk to the manager/social worker and see what she has been told about the legality of placement. Someone has to be financially responsible for the AL bills. Also, most AL places don't want Memory Care/Alzheimer's so I'm wondering if this is a long term care place with specialty care for her?

I feel so sorry for you! If you think the cousins are not operating in the best interest of the lady (and I'd say making her move less than one day from the death of her son is pretty bad treatment!) then you can tell the attorney about that, tell the attorney your understanding with this family as far as your pay and care...Why do these cousins want you out of the house? Can you figure that out?
Good luck to you! If you are seriously concerned about the well being of the patient, you could seek help through the "Elder Abuse" hot lines.
Let me know what is happening!
Bonnie W
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I am a Live in care giver to a 93 year old woman. I have a private apartment inher home that the family pays all utilities for. I also get 200 per week and money for gas and they pay my medical and dental. In my contract is a stipulation that I will be allowed to stay for 3 months upon the death of their mother. My job entails making sure she takes her meds 2x a day and light housekeeping, making sure she has groceries and making dinner for us. We had to dismantle her stove because she would cook everything on high and walk away forgetting she was cooking. Her son comes every other week for the weekend and relieves me. The daughter lives less than a mile away and has been to see her mom 2 times in the year I have been here. Sad.
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In the Los Angeles area the agency I contacted said $220 per day for live-in care and they work 3 or 4 days and then a second person takes the rest of the week. They are guaranteed at least 6-8 hrs sleep per night; own room to sleep. They most often provide their own meals but you have around the basics, coffee, cereal, etc.
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Do not need a "caregiver per se" more a companion...everything furnished
Including car, access to many community amenities, private suite.
Mainly driving to appointments and social actives..someone who is over
65 in good health required . Would $1500.00 per month (cash) attract
A retired lady on social security to be this type of companiov
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I think the standard amount for live-in- care with a few hours off each day is about $4,000 mo including room and board. That would be 7 days a week. If the person wants weekends off then they can pay respite out of their salary.
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